IRVINE, Calif. – August 31, 2006 – Montana reported 58 properties entering some stage of the foreclosure process in August, a decline of 13 percent from the 67 properties reported in July, and a 3 percent decrease from the 60 properties reported for the same month last year, according to the RealtyTrac™ August 2006 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.

RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of pre-foreclosure and foreclosure properties, with nearly 650,000 properties from more than 2,500 counties across the country, and is the foreclosure data provider to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate, The Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal and Knight Ridder Online.

“Foreclosures in Montana decreased both on a monthly and yearly basis,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “Consistently strong numbers in employment growth, and a solid housing market, are likely keeping the state’s foreclosure rates among the nation’s lowest.”

Montana ranked 41st in the country for foreclosure activity during August. The state’s foreclosure rate of one new foreclosure filing for every 7,105 households — 14 percent of the national average — ranks it among the 10 lowest states.

CascadeCounty posts highest activity level

Leading the state in foreclosures for August was CascadeCounty, reporting 14 properties entering some stage of the foreclosure process. FlatheadCounty had the second highest total, reporting 11 properties entering some stage of the foreclosure process, followed by Lewis and ClarkCounty where nine properties entered some stage of the foreclosure process.

Highest foreclosure rate reported in Mineral County

MineralCounty posted the state’s highest foreclosure rate in August, with one new foreclosure filing for every 1,961 households — 3.6 times the state average. Reporting one new foreclosure filing for every 2,278 households — 3.1 times the state average — RavalliCounty had the second highest foreclosure rate in the state, followed by CascadeCounty with one new foreclosure filing for every 2,516 households — 2.8 times the state average.

State foreclosures have minor impact on national total

Montana‘s foreclosure activity accounted for less than 1 percent of the 115,292 properties entering some stage of the foreclosure process nationwide in August. The national total represents a 24 percent increase from the 92,845 foreclosures reported in July. The nation’s foreclosure rate increased to one new foreclosure filing for every 1,003 households during the month.

The RealtyTrac Monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides the total number of homes in some stage of foreclosure nationwide, by state and by county. RealtyTrac’s report includes properties in all three phases of foreclosure: Pre-foreclosures — Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Foreclosures — Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and Real Estate Owned, or REO properties (that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank).

MontanaForeclosure Market by County – August 2006

CountyName

NOD

NTS

NFS

LIS

REO

Total

1 in every # households

/NationalAverage

/StateAverage

United States

20,611

45,704

7,328

21,533

20,116

115,292

1,003

—

—

Montana

4

51

0

0

3

58

7,105

0.14

—

Cascade

0

12

0

0

2

14

2,516

0.40

2.82

Deer Lodge

0

1

0

0

0

1

4,958

0.20

1.43

Flathead

1

9

0

0

1

11

3,161

0.32

2.25

Gallatin

0

4

0

0

0

4

7,372

0.14

0.96

Glacier

0

1

0

0

0

1

5,243

0.19

1.36

Granite

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Jefferson

0

1

0

0

0

1

4,199

0.24

1.69

Lake

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Lewis And Clark

2

7

0

0

0

9

2,852

0.35

2.49

Lincoln

0

2

0

0

0

2

4,660

0.22

1.52

Mineral

1

0

0

0

0

1

1,961

0.51

3.62

Missoula

0

6

0

0

0

6

6,885

0.15

1.03

Powell

0

1

0

0

0

1

2,930

0.34

2.42

Ravalli

0

7

0

0

0

7

2,278

0.44

3.12

Sanders

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Stillwater

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Wheatland

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Yellowstone

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

About RealtyTrac Inc.

Ranked as the third largest real estate site by MediaMetrix, and No. 53 on Inc. magazine’s 2006 Inc. 500 list of the nation’s fastest growing private companies, RealtyTrac Inc. (www.realtytrac.com), is the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, providing all the resources that home seekers, investors and real estate agents need to locate, evaluate and buy properties below market value.

Founded in 1996, RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of pre-foreclosure, foreclosure, For Sale By Owner, resale and new construction properties, with more than 1 million properties across the country, property reports, productivity tools and extensive professional resources. RealtyTrac hosts nearly 3 million unique visitors monthly and has been chosen to supply foreclosure data to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and the Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal. For more information, visit www.realtytrac.com.

About RealtyTrac

RealtyTrac® is the leading provider of comprehensive housing data and analytics for the real estate and financial services industries, Federal, state and local governments, academic institutions, and the media. Data is aggregated from parcel-level records of more than 125 million U.S. residential and commercial properties and delivered through customizable products including bulk file licensing, APIs and custom reports.